Former England batsman Ian Bell tried to select his ideal 360-batsman with the best shots from some of the greats of the game.
In an interaction on EPSNCricinfo Ian Bell was asked to choose characteristics of his dream batsman. The former England batsman said that his ideal batsman should have Sachin Tendulkar's straight drive which was the best in business.
"Sachin Tendulkar (for straight drive), the best I saw on the field growing up. A pleasure to watch sometimes, hard to watch when you are on the field and chasing the leather," Ian Bell told ESPNCricinfo.
For cover drive, although Bell praised Indian skipper Virat Kohli and Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for their attractive cover drives, he went ahead and picked himself.
"Babar Azam like Kohli, has got a lot of time but I'd give it to myself,” he said.
For the pull shot, Bell was impressed by Rohit Sharma’s pull and hook shots against fast pace and said that he would like to have his pull shot in his perfect batter.
“Watching him (Rohit) against Jofra Archer's pace this winter. I know you could say it's a pull shot or hook shot. But I have faced Archer before, that's not an easy shot," he said.
Ian Bell, who retired with over 13,000 international runs for England, picked Alastair Cook’s cut shot, Ben Stokes’ reverse sweep, and Jos Buttler’s scoop that he would like his ideal batsman to have.
“Alastair Cook for cross-batted shots, pull and cut. Really hard to bowl at. He (Buttler) makes it so easy, like crazy. I have watched him doing practice at nets. Looks silly at times but he's a genius," he concluded.
Bell further chose Joe Root's sweep and Pietersen's six straight down the ground to complete his ideal batsman.
(EPSNCricinfo inputs)
